Follow me on Twitter

The Year in Review Begins

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not the holidays, though those are nice too. It’s time to recap, review, analyze, dissect, quantify, qualify, discuss, debate, demystify, debunk and debrief the year in pop culture. I’ve fully immersed myself in the spirit of summing up the past 365 days, and I’ll be unveiling a steady stream of blog posts in that spirit over the next couple weeks.

I started my 2013 Nostalgia Tour over at The Eagle. My final Take 5 column of the year briefly summarizes major trends in movies, music and television. I also left room to shine a spotlight on the year’s best performances and had fun using some of the year’s most memorable quotes to tell a little story about what we’ve learned from our entertainment. You can read my “Take 5: 2013 in Review” here.

Keep an eye out for my thoughts on the year’s best movies, TV shows, albums, songs, awards show moments and much more. Read on for a few of my parameters and guidelines for year-end recaps.

Just because I like these things doesn’t mean you have to, or that you should, or that I like or respect you less if you don’t. I have my tastes, you have yours. I do my best to elucidate and clarify my tastes and preferences in a reasonable and critical way, but I’m a human being, and sometimes my arguments aren’t clear enough. Sometimes my arguments are clear enough, and you just don’t agree. That’s fine! Don’t hesitate to do so, politely and respectfully. Life’s too short to come to blows over the merits of Breaking Bad or Kacey Musgraves.

If I neglect to mention something that you like, don’t be mad. There’s probably a logical explanation. Maybe we like different things. Maybe I set a 10-movie or 10-show limit and I didn’t want to exceed the scope of my own limitations. Maybe I just don’t like that thing that you like. Again, fine. I’m not trying to argue that my word is law, or that my opinions should be treated as assertions of fact, or that I’m better than you because I like some things that you haven’t seen. I want to start intelligent conversations about entertainment, and I’m guessing you do too. Let’s chat.

I’m not a machine. I can’t watch or listen to everything. I’m not paid to watch TV or movies. (Though if you’re willing to do so, I’d be more than happy to oblige.) Furthermore, I have a life outside of pop culture. I can’t possibly consume even a fraction of the great entertainment that’s at my fingertips on Netflix or Spotify. But I’m here to tell you what I think about what I do watch. Hopefully you can help me fill in the gaps.